Self Inconfidence
by BlueGardevoir
Summary: A young shiny Gardevoir amongst regular pokemon has lost all confidence in her powers. Little does she know that she alone has the power to save her forest, but only if she realizes her own potential and accepts it.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Footsteps echoed in the distance. Men's voices disrupted the quiet night. "She went this way, come on." They would say. Heart pounding, thoughts racing, she would not let them catch her.

"There she is!" She glanced behind her and saw at least eight men running after her. Suddenly, she felt a thump on her head, them everything became red. The world was spinning in front of her, then, nothingness. "NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

MoonRose suddenly sprang up from the mossy bed she was in. She looked around, everything was quiet. No men in sight. The moon was still high, shedding light onto her bed. She looked at her hands, still blue. It was just a dream. Just the same dream.


	2. Chapter 1

**Ch 1**

Morning had arrived at last. Another painful night was over. MoonRose got up and out of her mossy bed, still wet from her sweat after last night's dream.

"Rose, ready yet?" MoonRose heard GardenBeam calling from outside the willow tree. "Come on! We're going to be late if you don't get up soon" MoonRose groaned and parted the willow's long leaves into a curtain-like fashion, allowing herself out of her room. She looked around and saw other Gardevoirs leaving their willow trees as well. They were all green. Oh how MoonRose wished she was too.

"Stop moping about your blue complexion and let's go already." GardenBeam grabbed onto MoonRose's arm and started to tug. "The Elder is calling."

Running across the forest area with GardenBeam pulling, MoonRose scanned the forest. She saw all of the large willow trees, each of them concealing a different "household" where the Gardevoirs, Gallades, Kirlias, and Ralts made their home. Everyone was coming outside to bask in the sun's welcoming rays. Ralts were playing together in the sun while all of the Gardevoirs and Gallades made their way into the forest center, leaving the Kirlias to take care of the Ralts. Everything seemed peaceful, and slowly, MoonRose began to forget her dream.

At the center of the forest was a large clearing with the Giant Willow tree in the center. The Giant Willow was home to the Elder, the wisest Gallade in the forest. The Gardevoirs and Gallades gathered around the willow, looking up at the Elder, standing on top of the willow. MoonRose was painfully aware that she was blue in a sea of green.

"Hey look girls, it's the blue one." MoonRose looked over at where the comment came from and saw PsyThorn snickering with her friends FrostBeam and ShallowBeam. PsyThorn was a spoiled child of the previous Elder and had become very stuck up because of it. FrostBeam and ShallowBeam were twins who were PsyThorn's closest (and only) friends. Because they were treated as PsyThorn's subordinates, they just follow her around and copy her.

"PsyThorn, how nice to see you." GardenBeam shot back sarcastically. "Now shut up or you'll never see anything else again."

"Oh, so you're going to fight that freak's battles for her?" PsyThorn looked at MoonRose evilly. "You're as weak as you are a misfit."

"Hey, leave her alone." A powerful Gallade jumped in front of PsyThorn. He was as blue as MoonRose. "Move along before you make a scene."

"Ooh, BlueBlade, another freak to add to the show. Is this the circus?"

BlueBlade flashed his elbow blades at her, and out of fright, PsyThorn and her goons teleported away.

"You didn't have to do that brother." MoonRose looked at him. "I can take care of myself."

"I was just trying to help. Being the only shinys in the forest, we need to fight off brats like PsyThorn."

MoonRose looked at her brother in a way as if to say "you know that's not reality." Suddenly the Elder began to speak. MoonRose could not listen to his daily speech. She could only think of the embarrassment of being "rescued" by her brother. "BlueBlade," she thought, "please, mind your own business."


	3. Chapter 2

**Ch 2**

After the meeting was finally over, GardenBeam needed to go combat training. The Elder succession competition was fast approaching and GardenBeam was one of the five chosen candidates. Every ten years, five Gardevoirs or Gallades are chosen to take part in the competition. They must show intelligence by solving a puzzle, show bravery in an individual challenge, and then they must battle. Only two contestants make it to the battle, and the winner becomes the new Elder. GardenBeam wants nothing more than to win this competition, and her constant training left MoonRose alone more often than she would have liked.

"I'm sorry that I'm training so much more than usual lately. Your brother is one of the contestants and I need to be able to defeat him. You know that the Elder needs to be smart, confident, brave, and able to defend the forest in battle. Frankly, your brother doesn't seem to possess all of those qualities and…"

"Just go." MoonRose was tired of hearing GardenBeam describe everything she learned about being an Elder. As a candidate for the competition, she needs to know everything about the job, and for some reason, feels it necessary to teach MoonRose.

GardenBeam looked at MoonRose with hurt in her eyes. She walked away, understanding that MoonRose felt so alone whenever her friend was gone. MoonRose just headed towards the Deserted Clearing. This was an area thought to be haunted by ghost Pokemon, so the forest Pokemon stay clear of it. However, MoonRose found it to be a peaceful place for training or meditating. No one could bother her out there.

Upon reaching the clearing, MoonRose looked around. The clearing was empty and sunlit. The trees were covered with the marks of thunderbolts and shadow balls. It was completely peaceful. Perfect.

Launching a magical leaf up at the branches of the trees, MoonRose sent dozens of small branches falling at her. With one quick psychic attack, she arranged the branches into a large circle, using nearby vines to tie the branches securely and to hang it dangling from a tree. She then launched ten shadow balls at the same time towards the makeshift moving target. With lightning quick reflexes, she launched thunderbolt after thunderbolt at the shadow balls, knocking them at just the right angle that each of them barely grazed the sides of the branches. With even more thunderbolts, she made the shadow balls turn 90 degrees at the exact same time. Even though all ten shadow balls were behind the branches, her thunderbolts still hit them without hitting the branches, causing another simultaneous 90 degree turn, allowing the shadow balls to hit the branches, incinerating them all at the same time. MoonRose watched the branches disappear as a result of an impressive display of ability, slumped onto the ground, and sighed. "Why am I so weak?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

MoonRose recognized that voice immediately. She whipped her head around, only to find herself staring into the eyes of the one pokemon who she never thought she'd see again.


	4. Chapter 3

**Ch 3**

"Hey MoonRose. It's been a while hasn't it." The mysterious pokemon looked around casually, surveying the scattered broken twigs and multiple marks all over the tree trunks. "Your power has greatly improved since we last met." The pokemon smiled. "So, why are you training if you're so powerful?"

MoonRose looked at the pokemon silently, taking in his words. Finally, she looked away. "SilverMind, why have you come?"

The Alakazam smiled again and put his hand on her shoulder. Helping her back to her feet, he replied "all in good time." The two psychic pokemon headed back to the village.

Meanwhile, unknown to the two below him, BlueBlade stands atop the trees, panting from having to dodge all of his sister's magical leaves. She's stronger than he could have ever imagined. But he had no time to think about that. SilverMind was back, and BlueBlade could not allow that. Memories of his childhood rivalries rushed back, bad memories. Finally catching his breath, BlueBlade jumped off, determined to take care of unfinished business.

"You have yet to answer my question. Why have you come?" MoonRose and SilverMind returned to her willow tree, both with many questions buzzing around their minds.

SilverMind gave her his usual "patience" smile. "So impatient, as always." SilverMind began to wander about the willow tree, examining all of MoonRose's possessions, much to her dislike. When he started to cross through the vines that divided MoonRose's and BlueBlade's halves of the tree, MoonRose panicked and launched a magical leaf. SilverMind deflected it with a light screen, causing them to fly harmlessly out through the willow's branches, and stared at MoonRose with shock.

"I'm sorry, but that half of the tree belongs to BlueBlade. He insists on still living with me." MoonRose backed away slowly, bracing for SilverMind's response, but SilverMind remained silent, unmoving, staring at a trophy sitting on a bookshelf. Memories of his days as a Kadabra came flooding back. A bloody nose, bruised body, limp tail, and nearby, a blue Kirlia, badly bruised but a proud expression, holding this very trophy. SilverMind rushed outside to escape his memories, but found himself looking at the face of the same Kirlia who held that trophy so many years ago, only now, he was a Gallade: BlueBlade.

BlueBlade looked at SilverMind, now an Alakazam, and undoubtedly stronger than their last encounter. But BlueBlade was not the dance-happy Kirlia he used to be. He was stronger too. The two said nothing to each other, each understanding what they must do. BlueBlade charged his blades with a dark energy, while SilverMind charged up a shadow ball. Just as they were about to begin battling, MoonRose dashed out towards them. In her hands was the trophy; in her eyes was pure shock. Tears trickled down her face as she desperately tried to stop the fight before history repeats itself.


	5. Chapter 4

**Ch 4 **

Ten Years Ago

A young female Kirlia with blue hair sat down on a tree trunk. In front of her were a roaring fire and many pieces of scrap metal she obtained from an Aron in the forest. Using her confusion attack, she heated each of the metal scraps over the fire and bent them into the shape of a little trophy. She dropped the trophy into a nearby river to cool it, and covered it with gold paint she was given by a Smeargle. After letting it dry, she put out the fire and rushed off to the nearby battle fields.

In the forests surrounding the battle fields, a young Kadabra was practicing his shadow ball attack. He held up his spoon and his eyes began to glow. A blob of dark energy began to form around the spoon and grew bigger and bigger until it started to shake. The Kadabra swung his spoon backwards and whipped it towards a tree in front of him. The shadow ball collided with the tree trunk and blew the trunk apart. The Kadabra smiled at his power. He had to win now.

"SilverMind! Hurry up! The battle will start soon!" The Kadabra turned around and saw a blue-haired Kirlia running towards him, holding a beautifully made trophy. The Kirlia rushed towards him with so much momentum, she collided with him.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so excited. My best friend in a battle with my brother and I'm the referee!" She giggled, and SilverMind blushed at the Kirlia's enthusiasm. "MoonRose, I'm coming. I was just practicing." MoonRose got up and picked up the trophy; she rushed back to the battle field, calling for SilverMind to follow. SilverMind stared at MoonRose and the trophy. "That trophy will soon be mine, and so will MoonRose's affection."

Back at the battle field, another blue-haired Kirlia looked out at the forest. He stood their feeling the wind on his face. What was taking them so long? Then, a female Kirlia rushed out of the forest, followed by a Kadabra. The female Kirlia rushed over to the sidelines of the field, a trophy in her arms. The Kadabra ran over to the opposite side of the field, taking a combat stance. The Kirlia smiled, and took the same stance.

"This is a one on one battle between challenger BlueBlade and Local Battle Champion SilverMind. At stake is the title of Local Battle Champion. No outside assistance and no time limit. Begin!"

As soon as MoonRose finished her referee intro speech, SilverMind held out his spoon to charge for a shadow ball. BlueBlade sunk into the shadows and rushed at his opponent with tremendous speed. Before SilverMind knew where BlueBlade went, the Kirlia sprung up from the shadows to deal a devastating shadow sneak attack, breaking his opponent's tail. SilverMind grinned, and delivered his own shadow ball attack at close range. Both pokemon were blown backwards and collided on the ground, sliding in opposite directions.

BlueBlade jumped back to his feet as soon as his legs would allow him. He held his arm out and launched a magical leaf attack. SilverMind got up in time to block with light screen, but only managed to block half of the leaves. The other half hit no problem.

Already badly bruised, SilverMind decided to immobilize BlueBlade with a psychic, pinning him to a tree. SilverMind followed his psychic attack with a shadow ball, which hit its target easily because psychic prevented any dodging. The explosion from the impact knocked BlueBlade out of psychic's hold, and he collapsed onto the ground. SilverMind grinned, thinking he won.

"MoonRose, I'll be taking that trophy now." MoonRose just looked at him, refusing to declare him the winner or hand over the trophy. Confused, SilverMind looked back at where BlueBlade collapsed, only to find him missing. Shocked at his opponent's disappearance, SilverMind did not notice BlueBlade emerging from the shadows behind him. With one shadow sneak, BlueBlade knocked SilverMind out; his snout collided with the ground and began to bleed. Lacking the strength to keep fighting, SilverMind could only watch as MoonRose gave the new Local Battle Champion his trophy.


	6. Chapter 5

**Ch 5**

Present Day

SilverMind released his charge on his shadow ball and BlueBlade released the energy around his blades. MoonRose rushed up to them, tears falling off her face. She dropped the trophy at BlueBlade's feet. "You have the trophy, why still fight?"

"You only know half the story of our rivalry. You wouldn't understand this fight." BlueBlade turned back to the battle and began charging, only to be stopped by his sister.

"She deserves to know." SilverMind sighed and walked over. "You must have noticed that after that fight, BlueBlade and I had an escalating rivalry. For months afterward we were both training feverishly in preparation for a rematch. We never wanted you to know because we saw your concern over our constant fighting. The day we planned our rematch, we were halfway through the battle before that severe tornado interrupted. You recall that that was the day you two left to find a new home after the damage? Your brother and I agreed that we would part ways to train and have our rematch later. Now is that time."

"Please don't. This will only end in you two hurting yourselves again. I could barely look at that bloody nose or all of those bruises, cuts and scratches. Now that you're both evolved, imagine the damage!" MoonRose started to cry.

BlueBlade looked away. He shook his sister off of his blades and charged up. SilverMind charged up his shadow ball and they began to attack. Desperate, MoonRose grabbed the trophy and rushed into the middle of the battle field. Unable to stop their forward momentum, both pokemon crashed into MoonRose, and the trophy flew into the sky.

"I lost sight of her."

"I'm not going to waste my time chasing a shiny only to fail constantly. I'm going after that Alakazam. They're rare in these parts. Come Houndours."

"Go ahead. I'm after those two shinys. Come Houndoom!"

No.

"She went this way, come on."

No.

"There she is!"

NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

"MoonRose. Wake up! You're dreaming! Please wake up!" GardenBeam kept shaking MoonRose's shoulders relentlessly.

"Uh…GardenBeam? Where am I? What happened?" MoonRose sat up in bed and held her head. She had a throbbing headache. Looking around, she saw that she was in GardenBeam's bed.

"MoonRose! You're awake! Thank goodness. I'm not sure what happened but I heard an explosion while I was training, and when I got there, you were laying on the ground unconscious. You've been unconscious for two hours now. Oh, by the way, I found this lying next to you."

GardenBeam held up a little trophy, BlueBlade's trophy, only it wasn't the trophy MoonRose remembered. It was badly dented, and both of the handles were broken. There was a hole punctured into one side of the trophy and most of the paint was scratched or peeled off. MoonRose stared at it, and realized that it was the reason that her brother and SilverMind were in their rivalry. She looked at it with no remorse; she wished she never made it.

"Where is my brother and SilverMind?" MoonRose knew that they still had the rematch on their minds; she had to stop them.

"I think your brother is in the forest, but who's SilverMind?" Of course GardenBeam wouldn't know SilverMind, MoonRose thought. She'd have to find him on her own.

MoonRose got to her feet to find the boys, but was stopped by GardenBeam. "You don't want to go right now. Trust me." GardenBeam looked at her friend with worry in her eyes, but MoonRose shook her off and went outside. There, she saw why GardenBeam was trying to keep her inside.

Standing in front of her were three Gardevoirs. Two of them in the background; identical of each other. The third one had a little red-violet heart tattooed below her left eye. They glared at MoonRose with eyes that said "hello freak."

"Hello freak, like my new tattoo?" The three laughed evilly; MoonRose remained silent. One of these days, she thought, I am going to teach that stuck up PsyThorn a horrific lesson.


	7. Chapter 6

**Ch 6**

GardenBeam gently parted a few of the vines to get a glimpse at PsyThorn. Though she talked with confidence, her strength was truly lacking. Her only real attack was confusion, and that hardly threatened anyone in a psychic village, especially someone as powerful as MoonRose. GardenBeam sighed and wish MoonRose has at least some confidence in her.

PsyThorn and MoonRose continued to stare each other down. MoonRose began to doubt her ability to fight at all after being out cold for a good two hours, and PsyThorn grinned at her doubt. Still, inside, PsyThorn was shaking harder than a Bellsprout in a tornado. She knew her limited power was no match for anyone in the forest except her subordinates, FrostBeam and ShallowBeam, so she would have to rely on psychological warfare.

"You know, I would be pretty scared right about now if I were you." PsyThorn smirked.

"Why is that? You three are some of the weakest Gardevoirs in the forest." MoonRose still doubted her abilities as she spoke these confident words.

"I can hear the lack of confidence in your voice, and I know why. You know you're outnumbered. It's three on one, soon to be twenty-three on one." PsyThorn laughed as twenty illusions of herself began to appear and surround MoonRose. Her double team attack was very developed, as it felt like all twenty-one PsyThorns were laughing simultaneously. With both twins laughing too, the forest filled with the sound of cackling.

MoonRose grew very nervous at the sheer number of enemies around her. Out of powerful fright, MoonRose launched a wild shadow ball at the location of the original PsyThorn, only to realize it was the original. How pathetic that she never even changed her location. The shadow ball knocked PsyThorn into both twins, causing them all to faint and all of the illusions to disappear. MoonRose took this opportunity to run to the forest. All the while she couldn't help but wonder: why didn't GardenBeam help?

After MoonRose disappeared into the forest, GardenBeam stepped outside to move the three fainted Gardevoirs out of her lawn. They were ruining the scenery. After moving them into some bushes to recover, GardenBeam silently apologized for not helping. MoonRose needed to accept her power.

Hidden amongst the willow trees of the village, SilverMind watched the whole scene. He saw MoonRose recover and look at the trophy with regret in her eyes. He saw her stare down PsyThorn with doubt raging through her. He could tell that she saw her victory against them as a fluke. He knew she was looking for him and her brother; that she wanted to stop the rematch. He sighed, and like MoonRose, wished the first battle never took place.

"BlueBlade? BlueBlade? Where are you? Answer me!" MoonRose dashed through the trees of the forest in search of her brother. "BlueBlade! Answer me! SilverMind, you too. We need to talk!" MoonRose sighed as the only response was her own echo.

Suddenly, she heard a rustle behind her. She turned around, hoping to find her brother or SilverMind, but instead, she saw something worse than anything she could have thought a reality. Starring at her was a pair of vicious red eyes, eyes that she had seen all too many times at night.

Only one word would pass through her lips. "Houndoom."


	8. Chapter 7

**Ch 7**

"Well would you look at that. A blue Gardevoir. How rare. Master's gonna be pleased with me." The Houndoom let out a thunderous howl. Suddenly, more rustling came from a nearby bush. MoonRose gasped in horror as she saw a human man walk out from the shadows. His smile eyes filled with greed.

"A shiny Gardevoir. This is my lucky day. Two shinys in one forest. Houndoom, you're gonna get a big treat for this." The man laughed with a voice of pure evil. He pulled out a small red and white ball, and as if it were a cue, Houndoom dashed out from the bushes and attacked.

Two shinys? What was he talking about? MoonRose stood there completely confused about his words as a ball of fire was streaming towards her.

"MoonRose! Duck!" MoonRose snapped out of her trance and dropped onto the forest floor. The flamethrower missed her back by barely a millimeter. She quickly returned to her feet to look for who called her name, but saw no one. She then realized with a jolt that Houndoom was still coming at her.

MoonRose fled into the forest with Houndoom at her heels. Ember after ember attacks were launched at her, each missing her by fractions of a millimeter. She launched thunderbolts at the tree branches, causing them to fall down and slow Houndoom's progress. Eventually, she lost her pursuer. Exhausted from running, she found an abandoned hollow in a tree, crawled in, and fainted.

MoonRose jerked up from her slumber. It was nighttime outside of the tree hollow she was in. Wondering why she was there, MoonRose remembered the Houndoom. She crawled out of the tree hollow and saw lights shining behind the trees. She heard men's voices.

"You said there was a shiny Gardevoir in this forest. Where?"

"I lost sight of her."

"What about that shiny Gallade?"

"He escaped."

"I'm not going to waste my time chasing a shiny only to fail constantly. I'm going after that Alakazam I saw earlier. They're rare in these parts. Come Houndours."

"Go ahead. I'm after those two shinys. Come Houndoom!"

"Me and my boys are coming too. I'm not missing this opportunity."

MoonRose remembered parts of this dialogue from her dreams. She realized she had somehow predicted the future. She also realized it wasn't safe to stay where she was. MoonRose also knew that the shiny Gallade and Alakazam they mentioned was BlueBlade and SilverMind. She had to find them; she ran into the forest.

"Hey, I heard something." A light suddenly shined towards her, hitting her blue arm. "It's the shiny Gardevoir!"

Panic spread through MoonRose's body. They've spotted her. She spun around and saw at least eight men running at her. As fast as her legs would take her, she fled into the deepest parts of the forest.

"She went this way, come on." The men were following her with their pokemon behind them. Each of them had one of those red and white balls in their hands. No matter how much MoonRose ran and weaved through the trees, they were able to keep up.

"There she is!" MoonRose felt a thump on her head, them everything became red. The world was spinning in front of her, then, nothingness.


	9. Chapter 8

**Ch 8**

MoonRose opened her eyes. There was nothing but darkness. She looked around and saw nothing. In the distance, she heard voices. They were happy voices, voices filled with joy. MoonRose focused on the voices, trying to make out the words. All she could here was: "We caught her."

MoonRose realized with a jolt that she was inside the infamous pokeball, the item that had taken away so many of the forest's inhabitants in the past. Suddenly, anger welled up inside of MoonRose. Those men never think of the families they tear up with these accursed balls. They never consider the Pokemon's freedom or happiness. They were going to learn a lesson, one way or another.

Dawn was approaching in the forest. The eight men were still celebrating their lucky catch of that shiny Gardevoir. They were also planning on how to capture the shiny Gallade too. MoonRose's pokeball sat on top of the captor's backpack. In all of the excitement, no one noticed that it was shaking.

"Hey, Pete, go let out your new Gardevoir and let's see if she's any good in battle against my Houndoom."

"Sure thing Steve." Pete nodded and went to grab the pokeball. He was so distracted in thought of all the envy his rivals would have towards him that he didn't notice his ball was open and empty. His heart nearly stopped when he saw the ball was open. He stared at the open ball in disbelief. He could feel strange energy around him. Nervously, he looked up and saw the angry red eyes of his newly caught Gardevoir.

Steve and the other men were laughing so much about this capture they didn't hear Pete's cries for help. Soon, Steve became impatient. "Pete, hurry up!" He spun around to see what was taking Pete so long, and saw him floating twenty feet in the air. He screamed and caught the other men's attention. They all gasped in horror at the sight of the Gardevoir spinning him around in the air.

"Houndoom, go help Pete!" Steve's Houndoom bounded forward towards MoonRose to stop her. She glared at him and let out a thunderbolt. Houndoom fell to the ground paralyzed.

"Send her back into her pokeball!" Steve shouted at one of the men. He grabbed the pokeball where it fell on the ground and tried to call MoonRose back. Before the beam of red light could hit MoonRose, she threw Pete in front of her, making him block the light.

"Hey, Gardevoir, that pokeball caught you fair and square. You have to return when asked to." Pete called to MoonRose, trying to save himself. MoonRose just glared at him, and then she sent a shadow ball towards the pokeball, incinerating it. "No one controls me." MoonRose hissed and threw Pete onto the ground.

MoonRose turned her glare onto the rest of the men. Her eyes were glowing red with anger and psychic energy was emanating from her body. "Where is the shiny Gallade and where is the Alakazam?!" The men crowded together in a huddle, shuddering with fear. Even their pokemon were shaking. "WHERE ARE THEY?!!"

"W-we l-l-lost them. S-s-somewhere in th-the forest." Steve was so scared he couldn't talk properly. MoonRose's anger grew further at not knowing where her friends were. "What about the other Pokemon in the forest!?!"

"S-some of th-the other g-guys f-found a p-p-pokemon v-village." MoonRose gasped; there were humans in the village! She let out a yell in frustration and sent a shadow ball towards the ground. Dirt flew into the air, covering the men. When it was clear enough to see again, MoonRose was gone.

In the murkiness of the forest morning, MoonRose desperately tried to remember the way back to the village. Anger was still raging inside of her body, fogging up her thoughts and vision. She stopped running and fell to her knees. Her head was throbbing, filled with rage and confusion. She thought about how the men were trembling in fear. Part of her wanted to show them more power, make them more frightened. Another part of her wondered how she obtained so much power to begin with.

As her confusion grew worse, so did her anger. So much psychic energy was building up; she could barely hold it in. As the power was being unleashed, a strange force surrounded her and held her power in. MoonRose looked up and saw two familiar silhouettes standing up in the trees.

**Update notes: Due to an increasingly busy summer schedule, this will be the last update for quite some time. Next update could be anytime from end of the month to end of the summer, I really don't know. Sorry to anyone who really follows this story, but I'm just far to busy.**


End file.
